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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) praised the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new slate of mortgage rules on Tuesday, saying they will curb shady practices aimed at "tricking and trapping people" into unaffordable loans. The rules "will force mortgage lenders and servicers to compete by offering better rates and better customer service," Warren said on the Senate floor, adding, "Our whole economy will be safer. Not completely safe, but with a new cop on the beat, it will be safer." The CFPB is Warren's brainchild. President Barack Obama tapped her to help establish the agency after it was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The rules, which take effect Friday, will bar a host of abusive practices in the mortgage lending, loan collection and foreclosure processes. Last year, major banks agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement over such foreclosure improprieties as the use of fabricated documents and forged signatures to evict homeowners. Under the CFPB rules, banks that collect loan payments will be barred from initiating a foreclosure until a borrower is at least 120 days delinquent on his or her loan. Lenders must also determine that borrowers have the ability to repay a mortgage before issuing a loan, and mortgage brokers will be prohibited from receiving kickbacks for steering customers into higher-cost loans. "The CFPB's new rules will prohibit this sort of under-the-table dealing and protect consumers from being tricked by people they think they can trust," Warren said. The new rules do not go as far as some consumer advocates wished. They do not, for instance, require banks to implement loan modifications with borrowers who fall behind, even when the value of the loan to the bank or investors would be maximized by cutting the borrower a break. Warren acknowledged that the rules are not perfect and criticized the expansion of big banks in the half-dozen years since the financial crash....

Treasury 10- to 30-Year Yield Gap Narrows Before Bond Auction Bloomberg The difference between Treasury 10-and 30-year yields approached the narrowest level in three years on speculation slow inflation will support the longest maturities as the Federal Reserve trims its debt purchases. The spread was as small as 90 basis&nbsp; ... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

It's simple. Our new mortgage rules mean you will have more information and more protection when you're shopping for a loan and while you own your home. In the run-up to the housing crisis, some lenders made loans without checking a borrower's income, assets, or debts. That turned out to be a pretty bad idea. [&#8230;]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department sold $21 billion in 10-year notes Wednesday at a yield of 3.009%, the first time it sold 10-year securities above a yield of 3% since May 2011. Bidders offered to buy 2.68 times the amount of debt sold, compared to an average of 2.63 times at the last six sales. Indirect bidders, a group that includes foreign central banks, bought 46.6%, versus 42.8% in recent sales. Direct bidders, which include domestic money managers, purchased another 13.6%, versus an average of 18.6%. The broader bond market remained lower after the auction. Yields on 10-year notes , which move inversely to prices, rose 6.5 basis points to 3.002%.

The bank "stress tests" mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law spat out different results depending on whether they were conducted by the Fed or by the banks themselves. And the banks, collectively, were more optimistic about their balance sheets weathering an economic downturn.

Consumer Credit in U.S. Rose in November on Non-Revolving Debt Bloomberg Consumer borrowing in the U.S. increased in November, reflecting a gain in non-revolving debt such as student and auto loans. The $12.3 billion advance followed a revised $17.9 billion rise the previous month, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington.

JPMorgan, UBS Said to Be Among Banks in Mortgage Probe Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (JPM) and UBS AG (UBSN) are among banks that received federal requests for information about trades in mortgage-backed securities after the financial crisis, two people briefed on the matter said. The investigation is in early stages,&nbsp; ...

The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors&reg; President Steve Brown: &ldquo;Realtors&reg; applaud the decision by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt to delay increases in guarantee fees on loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a September 2013 letter , NAR called on FHFA to refrain from changing its fee structure until completing an analysis to determine the effectiveness of its fee pricing policy at bringing private enterprise back into the market. ... Read More

Federal Reserve officials were largely in agreement on the decision to begin winding down an $85 billion-per-month bond-buying program. As they looked to 2014, they began to focus more on the risk of bubbles and financial excess.

The Wall Street Journal's Daily Central Bank Report for Wednesday, Jan. 8 1) Williams expects Fed to wrap up its bond buying this year; 2) Rosengren says not so fast, the economic recovery is still too slow; 3) In Asia, 2014 is looking like the year of higher interest rates; 4) Canada's Poloz is worried about low inflation; 5) China is handling its growing debt problem very, very carefully; 6) More signs of froth in U.K. housing market; 7) Abe says he remains focused on the economy; 8) The Reserve Bank of India may create new banks aimed at small savers; 9) New ECB official soon; 10) Alan Greenspan has some thoughts to share. HILSENRATH'S TAKE Minutes of Federal Reserve meetings often show dissent among officials about major policies decisions. Don't expect strong signs of disagreement, though, when the Fed releases minutes Wednesday of its December policy meeting, when officials decided to gradually start pulling back the Fed's $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program in 2014. Yes, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren dissented, because he thought pulling the program back was premature. Yes, some Fed "hawks" wanted to pull back the program more aggressively. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made pretty clear at his post-meeting press conference that there was broad agreement about the action. When asked if the decision was a close call, Mr. Bernanke didn't take the bait. Instead, he said "there was a pretty widespread view" that the Fed's criteria for pulling back the program were on course to being met.

Wells Fargo Creates Swat Team to Keep Loans Inhouse: Mortgages Bloomberg Wells Fargo &amp; Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, has assigned about 400 underwriters to originate mortgages for the bank to hold, with as many as 40 percent of the loans likely to fall outside government guidelines taking effect this week. The bank is&nbsp; ...

Richard J. Andreano, Jr., With the January 10 effective date imminent, the CFPB has issued what it labels a &#8220;fact vs. fiction guide&#8221; on its ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule. According to the CFPB, the guide is intended &#8220;to help dispel some of the most common misconceptions about what this new rule actually means for consumers.&#8221; It appears that the primary &#8221;misconception&#8221; the CFPB... More &#62;

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